School opened in February at Colegio San Viator in Tunja, Colombia for its third year as a Viatorian school

Colegio San Viator in Tunja

— and all signs point to excitement.

A visit in April from officials with the International Baccalaureate Program is tops on the list. The IB Program is recognized worldwide because of its high quality programs and rigorous assessment methods. Viatorians share the IB mission of aiming to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

A drone captures the size of the campus.

Fr. Pedro Herrera, president, shown here with some of the youngest students in Tunja.

Colegio San Viator in Tunja is the second Viatorian school in Colombia to apply for this distinction. Colegio San Viator in Bogotá received its accreditation in 2016, for its primary program, middle school and diploma programs. It is one of only 12 IB schools in Colombia, certified to teach this continuum of international education at every level.

At the start of the new school year, Colegio San Viator in Tunja has built its enrollment to 650 students, which is more than double the number when Viatorians took over the school from the Congregation de Religiosas Hijas de Cristo Rey, in 2017.

“This kind of reception reflects the Viatorians and the college prep education we have established in Bogotá,” says Fr. Daniel Hall, CSV. “We have an excellent reputation in Colombia.”

Br. Michael Gosch, left and Fr. Daniel Lydon, toured the colegio in February. Br. Juan Carlos Ubaque, second from right and Fr. Fredy Contreras, right showed them the highlights.

Set amid the Eastern ranges of the Colombian Andes, the school features all the qualities of a Viatorian education, namely one that is faith-based, co-educational, bilingual and pastoral, with professed Viatorians on its faculty and staff, which number more than 90.

Fr. Pedro Herrara, CSV, serves as president. Ironically, he attended Colegio San Viator in Bogotá and was the first religious vocation to come out of the school. Now, he is paying his Viatorian education forward. Br. Fredy Contreras, CSV, serves as vice president of the school, while Br. Juan Carlos Ubaque, CSV, works in Campus Ministry and Br. Juan David Ramirez, CSV, teaches mathematics.